Texas Senator Troy Fraser made a visit to Brownwood Thursday to talk to city leaders about water concerns in West Texas and to raise support of a constitutional amendment to help fund water infrastructure statewide.
According to Fraser, in 1999 the State of Texas passed legislation to establish a 50-year plan for water infrastructure to guarantee that the state would have adequate water for its citizens for the future; however the plan has gone 14 years without approval for funding despite multiple attempts. Fraser said that he is working hard to change that, traveling the state to introduce voters to the idea of moving money from the $12 billion “Rainy Day” fund to help get the plan into motion by establishing a water development fund.
Senator Fraser, the chairman of the senate’s natural resources committee, stated that he introduced the idea to Governor Rick Perry before the beginning of this legislative session, and that Perry “thought it was a novel idea.” Once introduced into legislation, Fraser said that the idea became one of the most popular concepts that he has ever introduced and it was approved and now depends on the vote of the public, which will take place on November 5, 2013.
“I think everybody realizes that unless we do a good job of coming up with a good supply of potable water in the future, we’re not going to be able to exist as a state,” said Fraser. “I’m asking voters to vote ‘yes’ for a constitutional amendment to move $2 billion dollars from the ‘Rainy Day’ fund that will be on the ballot November 5th.”
According to Fraser, these funds would be used to create a separate fund that would be available for loans to communities across the state for water infrastructure; hopefully helping those that otherwise would not be able to come up with the capital for such projects. It is expected to eventually fund about $53 billion in projects statewide.
The plan for these funds outlines the following:
10% must be spent on rural Texas
20% must be used in conservation or reuse projects (such as Brownwood’s proposed $9 million water reuse plant) or water development projects.
The remaining 70% would be used for more populated areas, for building structures such as reservoirs. One such reservoir, the planned Cedar Ridge Reservoir near Abilene, is in the permitting stage for a future water source and will cost approximately $200 million to build.
Fraser praised city leaders of Brownwood for being innovative in looking toward the future needs of the area through the wastewater reuse plant idea. This plant would recycle grey water from the sewer treatment plant, cleaning it up and blending it back into the City of Brownwood’s water system which currently depends on water from Lake Brownwood.
Other cities around the state are also considering or are already using this idea of cleaning up gray water and blending it back into their municipal water system, such as Big Spring and Midland. Fraser reported that in Big Spring, tests on the water after the recycled water is blended into the system actually showed that it improved the quality of water overall for the city. Midland is working to develop the same process and Goldthwaite is talking about building a plant for their city as well, according to Fraser.
Fraser stated that he is traveling around the state to promote this concept (reuse of gray or brackish water) because of the drought Texas is experiencing.
“We can’t control mother nature,” said Fraser. “We are in the fourth year of what is anticipated to be a 10 year drought and we just haven’t seen a big rain.”
He stated that he would like to see more effort in getting brackish water cleaned up for use. Fraser is encouraging the oil industry to use oilfield waste, when they do oil fracking, to clean up the water and reuse it rather than injecting it back into the ground.
The test well that the Brown County Water Improvement District is drilling is a project that Fraser stated he is watching very closely. The well, which is planned to be drilled to a depth of 3600 feet in search for a new supply of water for Brownwood and the surrounding area, Fraser reviews its status daily.
“As of this (Thursday) morning, I believe, the well was at 2600 feet and so far, they have not yet found what they were looking for,” said Fraser. “I was asked if I think this project is a competitor for Brownwood’s gray water reuse plant, and I said no. I think both projects complement each other because in the long-term, I believe they are going to need both.”
Fraser stated that water is so vital for everything in life, that he feels these ideas will develop a supply of potable water that Texas can use well into the next 50-60 years and that he hopes that it is accomplished during his years of service as a senator for future generations.
“As an elected official, I have thought, when I am not serving anymore, what could be my legacy, what could I say I have accomplished,” Fraser said. “And if I can leave a supply of potable water for our children, our grandchildren and possibly their children, I think that would be the greatest gift I could possibly do, of having played a part hopefully of coming up with that water source.”
He explained that water is something very precious to society and that conservation is of utmost importance.
“You can’t make more water, you can’t make it rain, but we can do a better job with conservation and the existing water sources we have – do a better job with it.”
Although the reuse projects have their critics, he believes that Texas must develop a way to reuse the water it has available, because the forecasts for rain in the coming years are not good.
“We’ve had trouble getting past the ‘yuck factor’ but we are just going to have to recognize that if we are going to survive long-term with water supply, it’s one of the things we are probably going to have to do,” said Fraser. “Virtually every city, their sewer system – they are putting it back into a river which goes back into a lake and virtually every person right now, whether they realize it or not, is drinking water that came from one of these systems.”
He praised Brownwood’s leaders for their work toward finding an alternative source for water.
“I’m very impressed of the forward looking and thinking of Brownwood, the council of the mayor, for considering this. I think it is good public policy.”
The “yuck factor” isn’t the only obstacle that has to be overcome, the cost of treating this reused water is also high, but worth the cost. Fraser stated that he feels the water will pay for itself.
“The question of the cost of the water, I think, is a very interesting concept. With Big Spring, when they started doing this, I asked John Graham – who is over the water system there – is it more expensive? He said it is a lot more expensive. I said ‘How are you going to get the public to both accept the cost and the yuck factor?’ and he said ‘you know if I get up in the morning and nothing comes out, it doesn’t make any difference what it costs. If you don’t have water, this water itself will establish what it is worth.’” Fraser stated that he believes the cost of a barrel of water will rival the cost of a barrel of oil at some point in the future. He stated that he has focused on the importance of water issues during his whole 25 year tenure in office and that now the situation is worse that it has ever been.
“We are getting very close to the crisis level because of this drought. Our reservoirs in Texas, right now, as a whole are only 30% full. I saw a report just this last week that we lost 100,000 acre feet to evaporation because of the heat. Brownwood has actually seen more water evaporate from the lake than what you actually use. So we have got to be smarter about how we’re managing our water.”
He reiterated his plea for voters to support the constitutional amendment and move forward for the benefit of future generations of Texans.
“My appeal to the people of Brownwood, and to the people that elected me to office, is that I need for you to go to the polls on November 5th and please vote yes on the constitutional amendment to fund the establish a water source, because that is your water source, for your children, your grandchildren, and their children. It is very important to the future of Texas.”
Please see video below of Senator Fraser as he explains the proposed Texas Water Development Fund.
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